A command-line tool for manipulating Microsoft Word document metadata and revision history. Dolos allows you to create documents with customizable edit histories, modify timestamps at sentence-level granularity, and sanitize documents by removing metadata.

Dolos creates Word documents (.docx) with fake editing histories by:

• Splitting text into individual sentences
• Assigning custom timestamps to each sentence
• Generating realistic revision histories with track changes
• Storing metadata in a SQLite database for future modifications

Key Capabilities:

• Create documents with backdated timestamps
• Edit individual sentence timestamps after creation
• Customize document metadata (title, subject, keywords, editing time)
• Three document modes: final text with timestamps, suggestions/track changes, or clean
• Sanitize documents to remove all metadata and track changes
• View and export document metadata

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.9 or higher
• pip package manager

For Users:

cd Dolos
pip install .

For Local Development:

cd Dolos
pip install -e .

The -e flag installs in editable mode, allowing you to modify the code and see changes immediately without reinstalling.

Verify installation:

dolos version

Launch the interactive interface:

dolos

Follow the step-by-step prompts to:

1. Choose an action (create/edit/sanitize/view)
2. Input text (paste directly or from file)
3. Configure timestamps and intervals
4. Set document metadata
5. Choose document mode

Create a document:

# From direct text
dolos create "First sentence. Second sentence. Third sentence." -o output.docx

# From file
dolos create --input-file document.txt -o output.docx

# With custom settings
dolos create "Text here." \
  --output doc.docx \
  --author "John Doe" \
  --start-date "2024-01-01 10:00:00" \
  --min-interval 60 \
  --max-interval 600 \
  --accept-all-changes

View metadata:

dolos view-metadata output.docx

Edit timestamp:

dolos edit-timestamp output.docx --sentence 0 --timestamp "2024-07-01 15:00:00"

Sanitize document:

dolos sanitize output.docx --output clean.docx

Dolos operates at the sentence level. Each sentence can have:

• Individual creation timestamp
• Modification timestamp
• Author information
• Revision ID

Three modes control how documents appear in Microsoft Word:

1. Final Mode (Recommended) - --accept-all-changes

• Text appears as final content (no suggestions)
• Timestamps preserved in metadata
• Professional appearance
• Most common use case

2. Suggestions Mode (default, no flag)

• Text shows as track changes with red underlines
• Author popups visible on hover
• Useful for showing detailed edit history

3. Clean Mode - --no-track-changes

• Normal text appearance
• No timestamps stored
• Minimal metadata

Dolos maintains a SQLite database (default: data/dolos.db) storing:

• Document metadata (filename, author, timestamps)
• Sentence metadata (text, position, timestamps)
• Enables precise timestamp manipulation and audit trails

dolos create --input-file report.txt \
  --output final_report.docx \
  --accept-all-changes \
  --title "Q4 Financial Report" \
  --subject "Finance" \
  --author "Finance Department" \
  --keywords "finance, Q4, report, 2024" \
  --comments "Approved by CFO" \
  --total-edit-time 120 \
  --start-date "2024-10-01 09:00:00"

Result:

• Clean document without suggestions
• Custom metadata visible in Word properties
• 120 minutes total editing time
• Backdated to October 1, 2024

dolos create "Sentence one. Sentence two. Sentence three." \
  --output tracked_doc.docx \
  --title "Draft Document" \
  --author "Editor Team" \
  --min-interval 60 \
  --max-interval 300

Result:

• Each sentence shows as track change with timestamp
• Edit history visible in Word's Review pane
• Timestamps spread over 1-5 minutes per sentence

dolos create "Historical content here." \
  --start-date "2020-03-15 10:00:00" \
  --accept-all-changes \
  --output backdated.docx

dolos sanitize classified_draft.docx \
  --output public_release.docx \
  --neutral-date "2000-01-01 00:00:00"

Removes:

• All track changes
• Author information
• Revision history
• Application metadata

Create a new Word document with custom edit history.

Options:

• text - Text content (or use --input-file)
• --input-file, -f - Read text from file
• --output, -o - Output DOCX path (default: output.docx)
• --author, -a - Document author (default: Dolos)
• --start-date, -s - Start timestamp for first sentence
• --min-interval - Minimum seconds between edits (default: 30)
• --max-interval - Maximum seconds between edits (default: 300)
• --title - Document title
• --subject - Document subject
• --keywords - Keywords/tags
• --comments - Document comments
• --total-edit-time - Total editing time in minutes
• --accept-all-changes - Create final document (no suggestions)
• --no-track-changes - Create clean document (no timestamps)
• --db - Database path (default: data/dolos.db)

Modify the timestamp for a specific sentence.

dolos edit-timestamp document.docx --sentence 0 --timestamp "2025-06-15 14:30:00"

Options:

• document - Path to DOCX file
• --sentence, -n - Sentence number (0-indexed)
• --timestamp, -t - New timestamp
• --db - Database path

Display metadata for a document.

dolos view-metadata document.docx
dolos view-metadata document.docx --json metadata.json

Options:

• document - Path to DOCX file
• --json - Export metadata to JSON file
• --db - Database path

Remove all metadata and track changes from a document.

dolos sanitize document.docx --output clean.docx

Options:

• document - Path to DOCX file
• --output, -o - Output path (default: overwrites input)
• --neutral-date - Neutral timestamp (default: 2000-01-01 00:00:00)
• --db - Database path

Multi-line text input when pasting:

Windows:

1. Paste text (Ctrl+V)
2. Press Ctrl+Z then Enter to finish

Linux/Mac:

1. Paste text (Ctrl+Shift+V or Cmd+V)
2. Press Ctrl+D to finish

Alternative: Type END on a new line and press Enter

1. Open the .docx file in Microsoft Word
2. Go to Review tab → Track Changes
3. Click Display for Review → All Markup
4. Open Reviewing Pane to see detailed revision history
5. Hover over text to see timestamps for each sentence

For metadata:

1. Go to File → Info
2. Click Properties → Advanced Properties
3. View title, subject, keywords, comments, and total editing time

Text appears as suggestions in Word?

Use --accept-all-changes flag to create final documents without suggestions.

How to set total editing time?

Use --total-edit-time 43 where 43 is minutes.

How to backdate a document?

Use --start-date "2024-01-01 10:00:00"

Timestamps not showing in Word?

Enable track changes: Review → Track Changes → Display for Review → All Markup

"No metadata found" error?

Check that --db path matches the database used during document creation.

• README.md - This file (overview and quick reference)
• docs/USER_GUIDE.md - Comprehensive user guide with detailed examples
• docs/TECHNICAL.md - Technical architecture and development documentation

# Final professional document
dolos create --input-file text.txt --accept-all-changes --output final.docx

# Document with full metadata
dolos create "text" --title "Title" --subject "Subject" --keywords "tags" \
  --total-edit-time 60 --accept-all-changes -o doc.docx

# Backdated document
dolos create "text" --start-date "2023-01-01 09:00:00" --accept-all-changes -o old.docx

# Show edit history (track changes)
dolos create "text" -o tracked.docx

# View help
dolos --help
dolos create --help

• Requires Microsoft Word 2016 or later for full compatibility
• Sentence parsing may not perfectly handle complex punctuation
• Documents appear as "having changes" when track changes are enabled
• Sophisticated forensic tools may detect timestamp manipulation
• Large documents with many sentences may have increased file size

MIT License